Highstreet vs Luxury: Brow Gels

Hey guys so today I wanted to discuss the Brows!

Back in June (I think it was) last year I discovered the Benefit Gimme Brow, a product that has 1000% sealed the 'holy grail' status, I mean I even buy back ups of this product these days as I literally don't think I could live without it. I use it every single day and even pop it on my brows on no make up days. My brows are so light and fair naturally but have a good shape to them and Gimme Brow just transforms them by tinting them and adding volume whilst keeping them set in place. Admittedly it is pretty expensive - at £17.50 a pop and it only lasts me a month, meaning I have to purchase one every single month. I get the shade Medium/Dark by the way and I reviewed it HERE for you to take a peak at.

Until a couple of months ago I wasn't aware of any other products that were up to the job and finish I was after and then I discovered the Rimmel London - Brow This Way. A cheaper alternative to the Benefit Gimme Brow Gel and at only £3.99 it was impossible for me to give it a miss. Luckily for me I had totted up enough Boots Advantage Points to be able to buy the product that way and I went for the shade 'Mid Brown'.

So there are two significant differences about the appearance of the two products, one of obvious being that the Brow This Way comes in larger packaging than Gimme Brow and the second is that the wand on Brow This Way is also a lot bigger to the Gimme Brow Wand, I would go so far as to say the Wand on the Rimmel product is far too big. I like to size of the Gimme Brow Wand as it allows you to maneuver around the sparse hairs at the end of your brows and shape them with precision. Brow This Way is great for adding colour and volume to the areas of my brows that are more bushy however I am reluctant to use it around the sparser areas as it just smudges onto my skin because of the wand being too big. Another slight note is that I have noticed the Rimmel London product gives your brows more a red/brown tint whereas the Benefit product is more towards the dark brown end of the spectrum. However due to the significant different in price I have now compromised and try to reach for the Rimmel product where possible on the larger areas of my brows and then just using the Benefit product for the sparser area's of my brows as I feel this combination works well together and despite the issues  on the Rimmel product with the packaging and the wand, the formula does actually deliver a pretty similar finish to Gimme Brow - just a slight difference in colour. Due to the price difference between the two products, I am trying to reserve the Benefit product for weekend occasions more and just for filling in the sparse brow area's on week days.

If I could choose just one of the two, it would undoubtedly be the Benefit Gimme Brow purely because it scores a 10 in all area's where as I would rate the Rimmel London product as a 6 out of 10.

Below I have added pictures of the result of the Rimmel London Brow This Way, Benefit Gimme Brow and another with a combination of the two.

I hope this helps you if you're trying to make a decision on which one to go for!

The 'I'm Not Wearing Any Make Up' Look

Morning guys and welcome to Blogmas Day 16!

You know them days where you want to look fairly presentable but without all the effort? I do, I know that all too well. I mean some days I really like have fun with make up and mix it up, but others I prefer to keep it minimal in the make up department. Sundays and Monday mornings are the days where I usually opt for something of this nature. The great thing about this look is that it's easy to re-create, doesn't require much effort and you can be running out the door within 10 minutes.

So my secret weapon for days like this is doing a thorough skincare routine the evening before (my evening skincare routine) and then just freshening up a bit in the morning. This will ensure your face is fresh and your eyes look bright as though you're ready to attack the day even if you aren't feeling that way! Pssst nobody will ever know!

I like to start off my make up by adding the Beauty Flash Balm to my face and then immediately applying a light coverage BB Cream. I used the Clarins BB Cream as it gives my skin a flawless finish but still looks really natural. I then add the Revlon Colorstay Concealer. Concealer isn't a product I ever used up until about a month or so but now I quite like to wear it under my eyes to cover any dark circles and brighten the eye area. Next up is Brows, which you guys know that my right hand man is the Benefit Gimme Brow, or if you haven't got that specific product you would just need any tinted Brow gel. This will just amp up your brows, give them that bit of volume, thickness and also tint them just a little bit darker. For the lashes, it's fairly simple - just grab your Mascara of choice, I like to use the Clarins Be Long Mascara.  For the lips you could either pop on a Lip Balm or a subtle Lip Gloss, I like to use the YSL Volupte Lipstick in shade 102.

A Winter Evening - Date Night Make Up

Hey my lovelies, welcome to day 3 of BLOGMAS!

Today I wanted to share with you my currently most favored make up look for a date night. You guys know I like to step things up in the make up department when the weekend arrives, however even more so when it comes to date night. I never like to be overly fussy with my eyeshadows,  lets be honest, I'm not the biggest expert when it comes to the old smokey eye and blending the crease kinda thing. I feel though that a little shimmer and a strong brow is the way to go for a date night - nothing too extravagent but something that looks just that little bit more special.

So let's talk through the look... First things first though, I actually forgot to feature the focal part of the look on the photograph above and that is the Loreal Lumi Magique Foundation. You guys know that when it comes to the base I'm all about the luxury brands - YSL Touche Eclat, Double Wear, Studio Fix etc - you know the drill. Just recently I've been loving the YSL Touche Eclat Foundation more than ever but the other day I actually ran out so instead I opted for the Loreal Foundation. My mum uses it everyday and swears by it so I gave it a try. It is very similiar to the YSL Foundation - the finish is light on the skin, dewy and radiant. However you do need to use more product than you would the YSL one which is a shame but it's definitely a Foundation I would suggest investing in, it's only £10.99 and is pretty much a dupe for the YSL Touche Eclat Foundation apart from the amount of formula required. I actually mixed the Loreal Foundation with a pump of my YSL Rose Gold Primer (which I'm in love with) to add a bit more shimmer to my face and just brighten it up that little bit.

Moving onto the brows - I used the Benefit Gimme Brow in the Dark Shade to tint my eyebrows and add a bit of volume to them. I then went in with the wax part of the Benefit Browzings and filled in the gaps where my eyebrows are a little sparse! After that I then went over again with my Gimme Brow just to make the look a bit more natural and to set my brows in place.

For my lashes, on this occasion I decided to go for the Clarins Be Long Mascara - this is a travel mini that I received as a Gift With Purchase. I love this Mascara, it really lengthens your lashes but still looks very natural.

At the minute I am just obsessed with Golden/Bronze Shimmery Eyeshadow, you've gotta love a bit of Gold! I think this is a really simple but effective look to go for, it doesn't require any faffing but looks super glam. I went for the Kiko Water Eyeshadow in the shade Champagne 200 that I actually bought when I was in Milan. I just popped this all over my lid until the crease and then blended it out a bit to give a subtle effect. I also applied the product near my tear duct as I just think it looks super pretty! I am in love with this Eyeshadow - if you're a fan of the Naked Palettes this will be right up your street. It's also very long lasting and pretty much stays put all evening.

On my cheeks I just popped on my MAC Alluring Aquatic Bronzer  in the shade Refined Golden for a little sun kissed glow. I didn't go too hard on the Bronzer as I didn't want a sculpted contoured look, I just wanted to add a little colour to my face.

Last but not least, on my lips I used the Clarins Lip Perfector in shade - Petal Shimmer. I just love this Gloss as it's not sticky and in your face, it just adds a sheeny pink wash to your lips and works really well with the golden eyeshadow.

I hope you liked this post! Let me know what your favourite Date Night make up products are!

The Wednesday Post - A Week In Photos #5

Morning guys, happy hump day! We're mid way through the week and here I am ready to share with you my week. I genuinely love writing these posts, it means I get the chance myself to reflect on what I've been up to and essentially it's a diary entry, which I think is great because it means I get to physically look back on my life in pictures and in words. Anyway, less blabbing and more about this week...

So first things first, aside from spending the later part of the week dying from a stupid cold/sore throat, I actually had a pretty good week.

On Friday night I met up with 3 of my best friends for a meal as it was Nguyen's birthday. We hadn't seen each other in ages so it was really lovely to meet up with everyone and have a good old catch up. After one too many wines I kind of forgot to photograph my meal or drink ooops. However I was just having too much of a good time to think about my blog, sorry! We didn't forget, of course to take selfies together, this is just like the secret code of girls okay - you just can't go out anywhere together without a Malibu Moment, it's just rude! Mean Girls & Wild Child puns aside,  I had a fab evening and just loved spending time with my gal pals. The picture above is with me and the birthday girl!


Quick notes on my Face-Of-The-Day for Friday night.
* YSL Touch Eclait Foundation mixed with MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC30 to contour with. Sounds a weird combo but works a dream.
*Benefit High Beam Highlighter
*MAC Alluring Aquatic Bronzer in Refined Golden
*Benefit They're Real Mascara on Top Lashes
*Soap & Glory Thick & Fast Mascara on Bottom Lashes
* MAC Russian Red on the Lips
*Naked 2 Palette on eye lids - a mixture of Suspect & Bootycall
*Benefit Gimme Brow in the dark shade

On Saturday I was pretty hungover and due to a very out of character, spur of the moment craving I actually caved in and made myself a Veggie English Breakfast. This is very unlike me as I normally opt for something super healthy for breakfast but sometimes you just need something to kick that hangover yano?

Later on in the day once I was feeling more alert, Kyle and I decided to take a trip to Newark so he could trade in his old Xbox and purchase the new one, he was sooo excited bless him! We also took a naughty trip to Starbucks and grabbed a drink and a salad, which may I add were incredible. After that we quickly dashed home to get ready and drove to the cinema. For our date night we decided to go and watch the new Inbetweeners movie. The verdict? It was pretty funny and did make me laugh loads but I don't think it beats the first movie, boo I'm sorry but it's true! We did both get a Tango Ice Blast and my newly appointed photographer (Kyle) did take a picture but we were in public and he was embarrassed so the photo he did snap was really blurry so unfortunately you will just have to imagine the heavenly drinks on this occasion. Gutted!

Sunday was a lazy day that involved a Sunday Dinner, watching The Holiday and whole lotta snoozing.

That was my week in a nutshell. How was yours? What did you get up to?

The Notes: Benefit 'Gimme Brow'

Hey lovelies so today on the blog is all about not only obtaining the perfect brow but also then maintaining them perfectly preened brows, the product you need in your life? Yes the answer is Benefit 'Gimme Brow'. 

As somebody who is always on the look out for getting that perfect brow, I'm always willing to try new brow products. When  I heard about the Gimme Brow product from Benefit I was over the moon because I feel as though this was the kind of tool my brow routine was missing but sort of well, needed.

My brows are a good shape but the problem is that they are extremely light. In order for me to show any shape in my brows I need to add some colour to them. My current go-to brow routine is just using a Body Shop brow pencil to shade in my brows and then finishing off with Gimme Brow. The Gimme Brow product not only adds definition and shape to your eyebrows but also adds some colour to them and sets them in place. If you have fine hairs that you want to accentuate, this product is perfect. Also, on days where you don't want heavy make up days this product really does come in handy - it adds colour to your brows but without making them too dramatic. Also please note I bought this in the darker shade.

My only problem with this product is that it is on the tad expensive side (£17.50) and I feel as though you don't actually get much product for your money. However, I've used this product every day for pretty much the past 2 months and it is still going strong!

If you're looking for a strong brow though, this product is definitely for you. If you can't justify the price tag I reckon there will be some similiar high street versions which won't rinse you of your money as much. I'm not currently aware of any but if you are please feel free to let me know in the comment section below!

Have you tried Gimme? What do you think to it?